


Ancillary (a love story)

by Fishwrites



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Altean Lance (Voltron), Alternate Universe, Blade of Marmora Keith (Voltron), Bullying, Childhood Friends, Childhood Sweethearts, Fantastic Racism, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Galra Keith (Voltron), Human Keith (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, Keith is half galra but looks human, Kidnapping, M/M, Political Expediency, Protective Keith (Voltron), Protective Lance (Voltron), Protectiveness, Royalty, Young Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-05
Updated: 2018-05-05
Packaged: 2019-05-02 13:01:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14545308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fishwrites/pseuds/Fishwrites
Summary: Where Krolia took baby Keith with her instead of leaving him on Earth, entrusting him in Altean care because being half-galra and not looking galra was a particularly dangerous thing since the war began. (Where Daibazaal was not destroyed but the resource-race brings everyone down the same slippery path).Keith grows up alongside the Altean heir adjacent: Lance. They become inseparable; even on those rare occasions where Lance goes off-planet without Keith, it’s never for very long.Until one day, Lance's envoy never makes it back to Altea.





	Ancillary (a love story)

**Author's Note:**

> written for **[Klance Reverse Bang](https://klancereversebang.tumblr.com/)** with the amazing [cubisticking](http://cubisticking.tumblr.com) (artist)! Her art will fit a scene in about chapter 3, so I will embed it in that chapter!! Thank you so much for your patience & letting me write this for your lovely art.

_"Love is blind; friendship closes its eyes."_ _  
_ \- Nietzsche

**:i:**

There were upsides to being the spare.

At least, that’s what Lance always maintained. Keith had broached the topic barely twenty minutes into their first meeting. They had been about the same age, all baby teeth and soft skin; but Lance was almost a head taller than Keith, who barely reached the armrest of his mother’s chair. He and Lance had been ushered off to an antechamber while the adults did whatever adults did. He had remembered Lance’s sister sweeping off on the Queen’s heels.

“Don’t you want to go?” Keith had asked, with all the bluntness of a six year old.

Lance had settled himself in front of a huge bowl of purple fruit. Their minders remained near the door, impassive and rather expressionless.

Keith didn’t like them.

He desperately wanted his mom back in the room.

“Nope!” Lance had said, giving Keith a huge smile. He was ignoring the other Alteans in the room; teeth stained lilac. They were blunt all the way around, Keith noticed. Not like galra teeth. But sort of like Keith’s own teeth.

“Want some?” said Lance, second heir to the throne.

He nudged the bowl towards Keith. It was so huge and heavy that it did not move.

Keith, who was the nobody-son of an exiled diplomat, ran his tongue over the flat of his own teeth. His canines were sharp; like his mother’s. He did want to try the fruit. They smelled good, and he had only had them once before. He knew they were expensive...and it was a bit alarming watching the Altean boy stuff them into his mouth so fast. Lance still ate like that, sometimes, but Keith couldn’t remember when the vague disgust turned to fond exasperation.

“Don’t you want to know what they’re saying?” Keith had asked.

Lance had only shrugged.

“Not really,” he said, picking at the fruit. He brightened, and held out a particularly large one to Keith. “Anyway, I’ve never met anyone with weird ears. What are you?”

“Half Galra,” said Keith, stiffening.

Lance had laughed.

“A _whole_ half? But you don’t have fluff!”

From there, the conversation had quickly devolved into Keith clamming up, Lance declaring him rude, a few choice words that only small children knew, a thrown fruit and two thoroughly ruined shirts.

 

A few hours later, Keith was told this hadn’t been a work trip; they weren’t here for a visit, and _please_ would Keith understand that it wasn’t safe for them to go back to Daibazaal or back to dad and Mom will be back as soon as she could, and this was the safest place he could possibly be.

 

He didn’t see the Altean prince for a long while, after that. He didn’t see his mom either.

* * *

“Look,” Lance had said once, nudging Keith with the point of his elbow. “Aren’t you glad I’m just the Spare?”

They were standing on the flight promenade, watching Allura and King Alfor make their way onto the awaiting ship. The Queen was standing just to their right, her pale pink ceremonial gown draped to the floor. War colours, in peacetime. It wasn’t every day that the King and Heir Apparent went off-planet.

But then again, it wasn’t a very peaceful peace-time either.

“What do you mean, _am I glad,_ ” said Keith under his breath, having perfected the technique of speaking with minimal lip movements.  

Even so, he could still feel the silent disapproving gazes boring into the back of his neck.

Keith tried to keep his position just behind Lance’s shoulder - as was appropriate for a guard-in-training - but Lance was having none of it. He kept shuffling closer to talk to Keith throughout the send-off, with the result that they were both a good feet back from where they had started.

“Well,” said Lance, tilting his head. One Balmeran crystal earring glittered in the afternoon sun. “Wouldn’t be able to hang out with you as much, if I had to go running off to every meeting and hand-shake ceremony. You’d be lonely without me!”

The ten years since their first meeting had gifted Keith with a small growth spurt, with the result that he was only a brow’s width shorter than Lance - but he was still shorter, and this was annoying with Lance was smirking at him from up close.

“Desperately lonely,” said Keith, deadpan, “Filled with longing. Unable to eat or sleep. I suppose we should be all glad that you’re not the one going off and committing political _faux pas_ the moment you get off our ships - “

Lance snorted, stifling a laugh when the Queen’s eyebrows twitched very slightly in their direction. Behind her, the tall silhouette of the Altean guards seemed to shift in their armoured glory...silently judging. Keith  straightened, feeling an awful flush of embarrassment rising in his cheeks. It was something he hated about his own pale skin - if he had been a little more galra, there wouldn’t be such a giveaway-tell like a _blush._

Lance followed the direction of his gaze and his expression softened.

“Dude, don’t stress,” he whispered, “she loves you.”

Keith wasn’t sure if that was true. But the Queen certainly had a soft spot for her son, and Keith came attached at the hip. Lance got away with a _lot_ of things.

“Shut up,” hissed Keith, because it was his job to be watchful and practical, “Your Father is waving at you!”

He wasn’t, but Lance turned obediently to look at the ship. The Altean boy was smiling, lips pressed and curled as if hiding a secret. He waved back, over enthusiastically as if to make the point. Keith could see the King’s small figure at a distance; Allura’s long mane of hair distinctive as always. It was too far to see King Alfor’s expression, but Keith knew he would be smiling. Alfor raised a hand to his son, and then both King and Princess disappeared into the ship proper.

Lance didn’t turn to Keith for the remainder of the take-off, but his smile never quite went away. The huge space ship detached itself from the moorings with a smooth dip below the line of the balcony, its shadow falling across them all, sliding off the windows and seamlessly from the tall walls of the palace; a veil being pulled. The wind whipped across the polished stone floor, making Keith blink rapidly.

Lance’s hair was a halo of white, and he lifted a hand to shield his own eyes. Ahead of the ship, a huge blue circle opened in the yawn of the sky, glowing bright even against the pale clouds. Keith could hear the deep, purr-like hum of the ship. It thrummed with his pulse, and he was momentarily distracted with he felt Lance’s hand close around his own and squeeze. He was warm, like the page of a half read book left to doze.

Then, between one blink at the next, the ship vanished.  

But Lance stayed, and so did Keith. They stayed, shoulder to shoulder, no longer holding hands but content in the quiet certainty that they could.

* * *

They shared their first real kiss under the stars (laying against the warmth of each other’s pulse and drawing out plans and adventures in the condensation on the glass), and shared their first real fight under the cold crystal light of a service corridor.

Keith had had his growth spurt, and was about the same height as Lance now; shoulders corded with muscle, lean and sharp as the knives and swords he favoured. Lance was still thin, but had shed some of the softness in his face and gained a tongue as pointed as his beloved sniper rifle.

They slotted together like two sides to a promise.

“When were you going to tell me?” said Lance, trying and failing to keep his voice aloft. It was like trying to walk across the ocean.

“ _Were_ you going to tell me?”

For once, Keith couldn’t meet his eyes. He was staring at a point just above Lance’s earring, lips pale and face blank.

“I told you I was going to study under the - “

“You didn’t say you were leaving for a _year_ ,” said Lance, “What were you planning to do - send me a message, _oh sorry forgot to let you know that I’m not back ever -_ ”

“It’s not like I’m not coming back!” said Keith, “and it won’t be for a year, it’s just a few months to train and - and then I’ll be back as usual. If I want to be your personal guard, I have to be the best.”

 _Lance and Keith, thick as thieves._ Allura said they were like oil and water; while Father said they were like night and day: where one went, the other followed. But the problem with being two sides of anything was that at some point, one side became a half.

“You said you were still thinking about it,” said Lance, stonily. “You lied to me.”

“No, I - “

“You didn’t say anything. That’s lying, Keith.”

“Well I knew you’d react like this!” said Keith, voice rising with his temper. His hair was tied back tight at the nape of his neck, and his new uniform a deep unfamiliar black. He did not have Altean colours, now, but wore streaks of sharp purple.

Keith ran a gloved hand through his hand, dragging it down the side of his face.

“React like _what_ , exactly,” said Lance, folding his arms.

Keith blew out a breath, eyes boring a hole into the wall. When he looked back up, they were bright with something tense and unsaid.

“I thought you’d be happy for me,” he said, then stopped himself. “I wanted to think you’d be happy for me. You know my mom used to be one of the Blades, you know how much this means to me - “

“I know that you lied to me when I asked!” snapped Lance.

His voice bounced off the ceiling, and they both winced. The hanger wasn’t far off, and someone was bound to come find them soon.

It was a long moment before Keith spoke.

“You didn’t ask,” he said, very quiet, “you - Lance, I need to do this.”

Something tight and sickly seemed to curl its way up the base of Lance’s spine. It wasn’t pleasant; it tasted of something selfish and sour, but he couldn’t help the clench of it around his lungs. All of the little fears, the little doubts that usually lay, dusty and boxed, surged forwards.

“Fine,” said Lance, refusing to look away.

Keith stared at him.

“I don’t want to walk away angry,” he said, words a little hoarse around the edges, “I know you’re...pissed at me, but I didn’t mean to lie to you. Lance, come on.”

Lance bit the inside of his mouth, willing himself not to cry. It didn’t work; and the sudden flash of guilt and sympathy that flash across Keith’s face just stoked the anger that was sitting at the back of Lance’s throat. He wiped his eyes harshly with the back of his sleeve, teeth clenched so hard he could hear them.

Keith looked distraught.

“ _Lance,_ ” he said, “I just didn’t know what to say. I just - I kept thinking I’d bring it up, but it was never the right time ….and I don’t want you think that I’m… that I want to leave or - “

“They’re waiting for you,” said Lance, cutting Keith off.

They stared at each other, until Lance had to look away.

“We shouldn’t leave angry,” said Keith again. Keith, who had never been good with words but spoke more earnestly than anyone Lance knew. It made him very easy to love; and very easy to forgive.

But Lance didn’t want to be forgiving right now. He just didn’t want to alone.

“ _One_ of us is leaving,” he said, breath shallow as spilled glass, “I’m not going anywhere, so I can be as angry as I please.”

Keith made an exasperated sound.

“Don’t take it out on me,” he said, irritation colouring his voice like dye in the rain, “It’s not my fault your parents won’t let you join the pilot programs! You’re just - you resent me for going, even though you know it’s the only chance I’ve got to make some headway with these people. I’m not fucking _leaving -_ ”

Keith’s words felt like a slap across the face; and Lance felt the blood rushing to his cheeks as if he had been. His shook, but he his hands didn’t. If nothing else, Lance always, _always_ had a steady shot.

“This isn’t about me,” spat Lance, “This is about you lying!”

“I didn’t tell you because I was cared you’ll talk me out of it!” shouted Keith, “You would - you’d talk me out of it and I can’t...this is only chance I have. Lance, you’d ask and I’d stay.”

“I would, because you might die out there!” Lance shouted back.

But Keith was still shaking his head.

“This is me asking,” he tried, “Don’t be stupid. _Keith_.”

There was a blare of something in the distance; the tell-tale beeping of pod bay doors being unlocked. Keith hesitated, but didn’t say anything.

Lance felt cold all over.

“Fine,” he said, words heavy on his tongue, “Go.”

Keith stared at him, eyes pale and jaw stiff.

“I’ll message you when we are secure, okay?”

Lance couldn’t say anything. He was scared he was going to start crying again.

Keith made an aborted move, arms twitching up. But then he simply turned and disappeared down the corridor.

His eyes hurt from holding back tears. Lance wanted to say _please message me every chance you get;_ he wanted to say _maybe I could come with you_ . He wanted to say _of course I want you to do this, I just didn’t want to be left behind._ He wanted to say, _I’m not angry at all - I’m scared._

By the time Lance had mustered up the courage, Keith was gone.

* * *

As children, they shared a lot of secrets:

“I’m going to be a fighter pilot,” Lance had said to Keith in hushed tones. They were both ensconced in a window alcove, deep in the bowels of the library. In their minds, no one would think of looking for them here. Lance had managed to find sandwiches and pouches of juice, and they had smuggled them in alongside four huge fluffy blankets.

“Mom says I can’t, but I’m gonna be a pilot.”

“I want to be a pilot too,” said Keith.

Lance beamed at him, making the twin marks on his cheeks glow.

“We can _both_ be pilots,” he said magnanimously, “You can have a battleship and I can have a battleship and - and we can have one side each.”

Lance hesitated.

“One side of the planet each,” he clarified, “to protect.”

Keith felt flattered that he would be entrusted with an entire half a planet, and he chewed on his sandwich to hide his smile. They both ate in thoughtful silence for a few minutes, contemplating their future star studded careers.

Then Lance found an interactive holo-map, which was _awesome._

“Quarter,” said Keith eventually.

Lance paused. He was holding a tablet in lieu of a ship, and Keith had interrupted his visual demonstration.

“What,” he said.

“Quarter of a planet,” said Keith, “we need more defences.”

Lance squinted at him.

“But who will pilot them.”

Keith shrugged.

“Lotsa pilots here,” he said.

“But not as good as _us,_ ” said Lance confidently, “You’re already acing the simulators. And you weren’t even tall enough for the pedals! Remember?”

They smiled at each other and ate in pleased silence. Lance activated a star map on the table in front of them, and it was a little warped by the ceiling of their alcove. But the stars and planets shot out between them, passing through their skin in freckles of colour.

“I just want to explore space,” said Lance, after a long moment, eyes bright with the thought of it, “there’s - so much...look we’re tiny! Tiny! I wanna go _see_ what’s out there, instead of being stuck in this castle all day. _”_

Lance’s silver-white hair was awash with the holo-map’s colours, and it was like he was a star himself, glowing with the promise of adventure and all the time in the world. The half sickle marks on his cheeks were smudges of comet streaks, and they matched his eyes.

“Yeah,” said Keith, heart beating very fast.

Lance launched himself into a detailed narrative about how they were going to find new planets - no, whole new _star systems_ yet undiscovered - and how they were going to map them all out and name them after each other. He was already musing openly about whether to adopt a numbering system, arms waving and expression open.

When Keith tentatively raised the issue of Lance being a _prince_ , Lance made a face that wrinkled his nose.

“I’m just the Spare,” said Lance dismissively, “They don’t need me for anything here. They got Lura.”

Some of the cheer faded from Lance’s face at his own words, and his eyes slid away even as the planets continued to float slowly across their faces.

“You got me,” said Keith, impulsively.

Lance blinked at him, before throwing himself across the hologram of the Planet Altea and hugging Keith with both arms. His momentum tumbled them backwards into the window, but Lance didn’t let go.

Keith hugged back.

Lance’s hair smelled like his shampoo; something like Juniberry and water.

“We’ll go exploring,” said Lance against Keith’s shoulder, “Just us.”

The projection of Altea tilted on its axis as it spun, the asteroid belt made up of only tiny silver lights in Lance’s hair.

“Yeah,” said Keith, feeling so warm he might burst, “Just us.”

* * *

The other Alteans didn’t like Keith very much.

Perhaps it was his appearance, or the fact that _Lance_ so very clearly liked him the most.

Early on, Keith had naively thought perhaps having the Prince’s favour would give him a free pass with his peers. He had quickly learned that it just made people very resentful, maybe because Keith was too quiet, too different, too wary.

Whatever it was, classes were isolating at best and often times downright hostile. Wherever Keith went, there would be snide remarks about his ears, his height, his lack of markings - and once, the reflective glow of his eyes in the dark of a broken ceiling lamp. It was a good thing he was graduating early, thought Keith, although he had a sinking feeling that the racism wasn’t going to improve much even in flight school. Perhaps they would be less obvious about it.

Keith thought the whole attitude was especially ironic for a race that could _change appearances_ at will.

In any case, his classmates relished making their disdain known, and no where was it more dangerous than in their physical education classes.

 _Freak,_ someone would hiss. Keith had long since stopped turning his head.

Keith quickly learned that he had to be faster because he wasn’t going to be stronger than the average Altean. He learned how to fight dirty and smart, and soon gained a reputation for decking anyone who tried to mess with him.

But sometimes, it didn’t matter how dirty or clever you fought - sometimes, four against one was just three too many.

“God you _do_ have weird ears,” said a tall Altean boy. He had a shock of red hair and a sneer as dirty as the evidence of Keith’s broken nose all over his knuckles.

“What in quiznak is wrong with them?”

Two of his friends were holding Keith down; arm bent behind his back, a boot in his side and a knee pressing down on both his legs. They were at the back of the school grounds, just off the West gates where the large delivery vehicles came to dock. Keith often left from this gate because less people use it - and he was less likely to get harassed.

But it seemed that these four had caught on.

“They shouldn’t let random aliens come here with us,” he continued, “This is a selective school. An _Altean_ school.”

“Got in for _free,_ ” said another friend, “Leeches.”

A kick to his stomach, making Keith cough and retch.

“Maybe we should help you fit in a bit,” one said, leaning in and plucking Keith’s knife from where it was strapped under his shirt at his hip, “Nice knife. Where you steal it?”

“Give that back,” Keith snarled, pulled against the hands on his arms and shoulders, “Give - “

His voice broke off when the boy held the blade out, tip very close to Keith’s eye. He drew half sickles beneath the curve of each eye, teasing the tip of the knife. He paused, digging in - and Keith flinched.

“Yeah,” said the boy, laughing, teeth bared, “You’ll fit right in.”

Malice dripped like rain water from their faces, and Keith felt his breath catch, panicked. He could feel the press of the knife under his eye, could feel the warm trickle of blood as they pressed a little harder. His lungs were paper thin, and try as he might, Keith couldn't stop the streak of genuine dread jolting through his veins as they began dragging the tip of the blade  _in -_

Keith stared at the Altean straight in the eyes, unwilling to let himself look away,  _don't look away you're not scared, you're not scared_ - 

“ _Hey!_ ”

Suddenly the pressure from hands and boots vanished as his four tormentors scatter back from Keith, jolting as if electrocuted.

“Your highness,” said the redhead, spluttering with surprise and his own panic.

Keith could Lance rushing towards them. Behind him was the familiar silhouette of armoured uniform. Palace guards.

“Keith!” Lance was saying, eyes wide, “oh my god your nose - “

He rounded on the others.

“What the quiznak were you doing?”

They all stared at him, rooted to the ground.

Lance was by no means the tallest there, but he seemed to grow with pure rage. He was vibrating with it.

“How _dare - “_

“Your Highness - “

“Shut up,” he said, “Shut up. How dare you. I’m going to have your _head._ All of your heads!”

“Lance,” said Keith, quietly, getting to his feet. He winced - something had definitely twisted in his ankle.

By this time, the guards were close enough at their shadows circled their feet. Keith’s classmates looked like they were going to piss themselves in fear.

“Give me that,” said Lance, snapping out his hand, “The knife. Give it to me.”

“Your Highness,” said one of the guards, “Let me - “

The boy more or less threw the knife at the guard in panic. The guard gave the knife to Lance, who passed it to Keith, who sheathed it back at his waist.

“We weren’t doing anything,” said one boy at last, “Keith was wailing on me and my friends came to help. He’s - “

Something crackled like ozone, and there was a brief blue flare of light near Lance’s sleeves. Keith’s eyes widened, and Lance seemed to realise what was going on. The light vanished.

“Deal with them,” said Lance, who Keith knew hated pulling rank. He must be very angry to be doing it in public like this. “Just - deal with them. I don’t want to seem them here anymore.”

“Yes, your Highness.” said the guards in unison, and promptly grabbed the four Altean boys and began marching them down the driveway. Two of the guards remained beside them,  as Lance grabbed Keith by both shoulders.

“Your face,” he said, distraught, “Your nose! We have to get you to a pod.”

“It’s not that bad,” said Keith, even though his own mouth was a little sticky with blood. He could feel it caking beneath his nose and on his chin.

“Have they done this to you before?” said Lance, eyes big and mouth thin with fury, “Keith!”

Keith rolled his eyes, trying to pull away. But Lance held on.

“You’re _covered_ in blood!”

He tried to wipe away some of the blood with one pristine white sleeve, but he accidentally jostled Keith, who yelped.

“Your highness, perhaps we can deal with this once Mr Kogane is cleaned up,” said a guard to their left.

“Yes, okay,” said Lance, still dabbing at Keith’s face. His expression darkened when he saw the nick on Keith’s cheek.

“I can’t believe…” he said, voice shivering, and Keith had never seen him quite so angry, “I’m going to - I’m going to _ruin_ them, I’m going to speak to Lura about this and I’m going to -”

There was that ozone smell again, like thunder in a bottle. Keith took Lance by the wrists. He felt a jolt of static that made all the hairs on his arm stand on end. But Keith held on.

“Hey,” he said, urgently, “Lance. I’m okay. _I’m okay._ You gotta calm down.”

Lance blinked, and his eyes flickered back to their more usual blue.

“Sorry,” he muttered, gaze still darting all over Keith’s injuries. “Sorry. Let’s get you home. Come on.”

Keith let himself be guided to the flier, and Lance only unlatched himself from Keith’s side to let the doctor examine Keith’s face. Even then, he hovered, anxious.

 

Later, when they were in the privacy of Lance’s room, they curled up in the middle of the bed, foreheads touching, hands pressed close. Keith’s nose had been fractured, but that was fixed almost instantly. His leg was badly twisted, and now sat neatly wrapped because Keith hadn’t wanted to spend any time in a pod. The knife wound had long since stopped bleeding, but that didn’t stop Lance staring at it with eyes that could cut through the hull of any galran ship.

He was still staring at Keith, face drawn and uncharacteristically serious.

“How often does this happen?” he asked, for the umpteenth time.

Keith sighed.

“It doesn’t matter,” he said, “I can handle it. I have handled it.”

“They were going to carve up your face!” said Lance,  making as if to rise up on his elbow.

Keith pulled him back down onto the pillow with a soft _whumpf._

Lance glared at him, but softened almost immediately.

“It’s not a fair fight,” he said, “We’re stronger. There was four of them. _Four!_ Cowards.”

“Yeah, because I told you - I have been handling it,” said Keith.

“You didn’t look like you were handling it,” said Lance, with a little sulk in his voice.

“And you looked like you were about to start crackling blue,” said Keith, with a meaningful look down at Lance’s hands, “You… you don’t want them to find out, remember?”

Lance looked away, shuffling closer on the bed so he could tuck his head beneath Keith’s chin. Keith moved his arms so Lance could fit beneath his elbow more comfortably.

“I want to be a pilot,” he said, words quiet as a confession against the hollow of Keith’s throat, “I don’t want to study with the druids. I want to fly. With you.”

“Yeah,” said Keith, “Same. But if they see you have the same gift as Allura…”

There was a long silence, broken only by the muffled sounds of the castle around them. Outside, the wind whistled against the glass.

“I’m just… watching out for you,” said Keith, “It’s not worth it. Don’t get so angry.”

“They were hurting you,” said Lance, lips warm on Keith’s collarbones, “I forgot myself.”

“I know,” said Keith, sighing, “But I can handle it.”

“I think you should finish the year with me,” said Lance, “With Coran and the other tutors, I mean. I’m going to ask Mom.”

“No,” said Keith, “ _Don’t._ I just - there’s just two more semesters to go. I’ll be fine.”

“It’s not fine when you’re being attacked - “

“People are always going to dislike me,” said Keith, sighing, “I don’t belong here! … I look _different_.”

Lance didn’t answer, but Keith could feel his brows furrowing.

“At least I don’t take after my mother anymore than I do,” said Keith, trying to lighten the tone, “imagine if I was purple, right? What with the...political climate…”

The Altean framed Keith's face with both, the pad of his thumbs soft just beneath the thin knife marks. The injuries were small, but they would probably scar - at least, until the the next time Keith had to use a medical pod. Keith wasn't sure he wanted to lose the reminders, lest he became complacent.

Lest he forgot his place.

Lance was shaking his head, as if he could read Keith's thoughts.

“I don’t care if you’re purple, _you belong here_ ,” said Lance, fiercely, “You belong here, and I love you.”

Keith had never looked away or backed down in a fight. But here, under the blazing heat of Lance's affections, Keith found that he could not hold his gaze. Instead, he closed his stinging eyes in concession; pressed a kiss to the palm of Lance's hand at his cheek.

 

Weeks later, Keith realised that those classmates of his had never come back to school.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm trying out a shorter / sleeker writing style? Not sure if it's too choppy but any feedback is super appreciated - thank you for reading!! The updates will be soon as I really want to embed @ **[cubisticking](http://cubisticking.tumblr.com)** 's art already hehe. Shiro is part of this story but his relationship with Keith is a bit different because big departure from canon is Krolia deciding to take Keith away from Earth instead of leaving him there. ajsdlfka. 
> 
> ah gosh i hope this wasn't too slow / choppy chapter...! It's nice not to end on a cliffhanger for once actually :3


End file.
